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Plan Z Phase: This is a Z3.5 (ZReboot 3.5) recipe. This is a dreamy, smooth pasta dish that uses little pasta, but is still big on taste. This dish can be easily doubled and baked in a 9″ x 13″ pan for a larger crowd.

Servings: Serves 4

Ingredients:

• 1 Tbl of olive oil
• 1 lb of Italian sausage. I use loose Hot Italian sausage you can choose your favorite or even slice a couple of link sausages into bite-sized pieces. Another option is to take link sausages and cut open the casing and remove the meat.
• 8 oz of assorted mushrooms. I used shiitake and cremini (baby bellas). Both of these mushrooms pack a big flavor punch but you can use any mushrooms you like
• 1/3 cup of diced onion (I used Vidalia)
• 1 tsp of Italian seasoning
• 2 tsp of minced garlic (Jar garlic will do)
• 1-1/2 cups of mascarpone cheese. Look for mascarpone in the fancy cheese section or near the cream cheese. It comes in white, plastic tubs at most places. You’ll need one and a half of the 8 oz tubs
• 1/4 cup of half an half
• sea salt and pepper to taste
• 1/4 cup of bread crumbs
• 1 Tbl of butter
• 1/3 cup of grated Parmesan
• Enough cooked pasta to cover the bottom of the casserole dish. This can be any kind of pasta you prefer. Rigatoni, penne, macaroni, or even spaghetti. About 1 cup of dry pasta (or less) will be enough when you cook it to cover the bottom of the casserole. This secret is how you keep down the amount of carbs in this dish.

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Cook your pasta in boiling water until done. Drain and set aside. Measure the amount of cooked pasta you will be using by spreading it in the bottom of the casserole dish. No more needed.

While the pasta is cooking you can make your other filling.

In a large saute pan add the olive oil and the sausage. Break up the loose sausage into bite-sized chunks while it browns. When it’s about half cooked put in the onion and mushrooms. Saute on medium until the onion is cooked and the mushrooms just begin to brown. Add garlic and Italian seasoning and stir. Add the mascarpone and cream. Heat on low until the mascarpone melts. Stir often to speed up this process. Add your cooked pasta. Stir. Season with grated sea salt and pepper. Pour the mixture into your casserole.

In a small sauce pan add the breadcrumbs and butter. Stir and melt the butter so the crumbs are coated in butter. Take off heat and add the grated Parmesan.

Sprinkle this mixture over the top of the casserole dish.

Bake at 375 degrees for 20 minutes so it gets hot and the breadcrumb topping gets crunchy.

Enjoy!

Cheers,